Workplace violence against healthcare workers (HCWPV) is a global public health and occupational hazard, endangering staff physical/psychological well-being and public health security. China faces strained doctor-patient relations and frequent HCWPV yet its legal framework lacks occupational safety and health (OSH) oriented regulations. The International Labour Organization (ILO)'s Violence and Harassment Convention (C190) and Recommendation (R206) provide an internationally recognized normative benchmark, structured around a three-pillar approach: defining and prohibiting violence, establishing enforcement and remedies, and mandating preventive measures. This study conducted a systematic legal analysis of legally binding national-level documents to examine how HCWPV is addressed in China. By comparing China's national legal framework with the ILO three-pillar model, this study aims to identify regulatory gaps and inform improvements in the governance of HCWPV. This study conducted a systematic legal analysis of legally binding national-level legal and policy instruments in China to examine how HCWPV is addressed. Documents were identified through comprehensive database searches and supplementary legal screening, and analyzed using a structured analytical framework informed by international standards. China's relevant legal framework includes the Constitution, 10 laws, 3 administrative regulations, 3 departmental rules, and 33 other normative documents. Provisions are scattered and focusing on post-incident punishment and public order maintenance, while excluding psychological violence and failing to define HCWPV as an occupational hazard. When mapped against the C190& R206 framework, substantial gaps were observed across all 3 pillars, including narrow and incident-based definitions of violence, reliance on post-incident punitive enforcement, and limited preventive obligations for healthcare institutions. China's "public order-first" legislative paradigm prioritizes punishment over prevention, creating systemic gaps in HCWPV governance. These findings suggest that reframing HCWPV as a psychosocial occupational hazard and aligning national legislation with the preventive, worker-centered principles of C190&R206 may strengthen the coherence and public health effectiveness of China's regulatory framework.

Building on ethnographic materials from a state-led land acquisition scheme for the revetment of Cần Thơ River in southern Vietnam, this article examines a phenomenon termed “devaluation without dispossession,” an economic loss to landholders that remains inadequately addressed in not only national legal frameworks but also internationally accepted guidelines on how best to compensate for land acquisition. When the value of landholders' assets such as skills, equipment, and co-ordination of labour is enabled by their connection to land, land acquisition engenders substantial devaluation of those assets although they are intact and remain in landholders' possession. Compared with other major land acquisitions in Asia, notably India and China, the political landscape of late-socialist Vietnam may increase the likelihood of “devaluation without dispossession” becoming a source of discontent for landholders. Local authorities face less pressure to increase compensation to cover the loss of devaluation as a vote-winning strategy than local officials in parts of India. At the same time, they are incapable of trialling their own models of compensation to ease landholders' sense of injustice, in ways local officials in wealthy regions of China have.

Marine plastic pollution has become a defining transboundary environmental challenge, prompting the international community to pursue a legally binding global treaty. Vietnam, a rapidly developing coastal state, has introduced significant legal reforms to address plastic leakage; however, the extent to which its national framework aligns with emerging international norms remains unclear. This study examines Vietnam’s legal preparedness by analysing the consistency between domestic laws—particularly the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection and the National Action Plan on Marine Plastic Debris—and global regulatory directions articulated under UNCLOS, MARPOL, the Basel Convention, and ongoing treaty negotiations. Using a qualitative case-study methodology, the research integrates doctrinal legal analysis, comparative policy review, and assessment of secondary empirical materials to identify strengths, weaknesses, and harmonisation needs. The findings reveal notable progress in Vietnam’s adoption of extended producer responsibility and its engagement in regional cooperation, yet highlight persistent gaps in upstream regulation, institutional coordination, monitoring capacity, and transboundary waste governance. These gaps indicate partial but incomplete alignment with the lifecycle-based approaches emerging globally. The study concludes that Vietnam must undertake deeper structural reforms to meet future treaty obligations and to strengthen the coherence and effectiveness of its marine-plastic governance. Enhanced coordination, improved monitoring systems, and broader circular-economy measures will be essential for full harmonisation with evolving international standards.

The study examines the right to education, the way it is disciplined by national, regional and international instruments and the problems in the Albanian education system for the implementation and guarantee of this right. In this study, an analysis of the most important normative acts that discipline the right to education has been made. The methodology used has combined the qualitative and quantitative method and includes legal analysis, desk research of normative acts and official documents, as well as focus groups with experts, professionals, teachers, parents and students. The findings of the study are also the result of the most important reports of international organizations in which the Albanian state is part or the data of the European Commission, whose progress reports are valid recommendations for Albania in its steps towards membership. The study identifies the main challenges of the education system in Albania including lack of funds and adequate financial support, guaranteeing free education, socio-economic inequalities, access to education; discrimination against marginalized groups, problems of inclusion, quality in education and ethics in communication. Data analysis from focus groups and legal literature shows that, despite a broad national and international legal framework that guarantees the right to education and prohibits discrimination, practical implementation remains deficient due to institutional barriers and limited professional capacities. The challenges identified in this study are, among others, the lack of adequate financial support for this sector, the quality of assimilation and inclusiveness. Received: 01 January 2026 / Accepted: 16 April 2026 / Published: May 2026

Radioactive waste management is not only a technical and administrative concern but also an ethical, ecological, and intergenerational responsibility. This article reconstructs the concept of eco-maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah as a normative framework for strengthening corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies in radioactive waste management in Banten and West Java, Indonesia. Existing regulatory frameworks tend to prioritize procedural compliance, risk control, and institutional administration, while giving limited attention to moral accountability, ecological justice, and community-based responsibility. Using a normative legal method supported by conceptual and policy analysis, this study examines statutory regulations, corporate reports, international safety standards, and relevant Islamic legal literature. The findings show that eco-maqāṣid, particularly the protection of life, future generations, and the environment, offer a transformative ethical foundation for developing Sharia-based CSR in radioactive waste governance. The cases of Banten and West Java demonstrate the urgency of integrating Islamic environmental ethics into risk mitigation, public transparency, community participation, and corporate accountability. The study’s main novelty lies in proposing Eco-Sharia Governance, a maqāṣid-based policy model that bridges national legal frameworks, international radioactive waste standards, SDGs 3, 6, 12, and 13, and Islamic ethical values. This model contributes to a more holistic approach to radioactive waste management by shifting CSR from mere corporate obligation toward ecological responsibility, public safety, and intergenerational justice

The Rohingya refugee crisis presents a complex humanitarian challenge in Southeast Asia, exposing the inherent tension between state-centric nationalism and localised refugee management. This study interrogates Indonesia’s bifurcated response to the crisis by contrasting the national legal framework, exemplified by Presidential Regulation No. 125 of 2016, with Acehnese customary law as codified in the Qanun Meukuta Alam. While national policies prioritise sovereignty, security and containment, Acehnese practices emphasise justice, compassion and community solidarity, deeply rooted in Islamic and maritime traditions. Through a qualitative analysis of legal texts, historical manuscripts and field observations, this research highlights how Acehnese cosmopolitanism, forged through centuries of transregional trade, offers a more inclusive, rights-based alternative to restrictive state frameworks. The study argues that integrating such ‘local wisdom’ into Indonesia’s national policy could foster more human refugee governance. Furthermore, it explores the broader implications for regional collaboration, advocating for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states to pivot towards community-driven support systems. Ultimately, this research underscores the transformative potential of localised hospitality in balancing the exigencies of state sovereignty with ethical responsibility.

The principle of national sovereignty underpins international law by guaranteeing state independence and its legislative authority without external interference. However, the interaction between domestic norms and international commitments has sparked debate, particularly in cases of potential normative conflicts. Two main theories explain this relationship: dualism, which distinguishes between the two legal systems, and monism, which gives primacy to international law. This study analyzes the impact of international treaties on national legal frameworks, focusing on the position of Arab States regarding human rights. It examines the Iraqi legal system, its incorporation of treaties, and their influence on the 2005 Constitution, as well as the role of the judiciary. Finally, a comparison with the Spanish legal system is presented to identify key similarities and differences.

ABSTRACT Overcoming cross-border legal and administrative obstacles is key for the development of cross-border territories, allowing economic agents to fully exploit their natural catchment areas, and overcoming border effects. But the very contextualized nature of each obstacle shows implies a bottom-up approach. While Interreg funding and legal instruments like EGTC or BRIDGEforEU set the essential framework, support for solving obstacles with a casuistic approach is vital. The European Commission has been implementing such support with its b-solutions initiative. Obstacles are dealt with one at a time, performing a legal analysis of their root causes and identifying potential solutions. For each case it delivers a solution with a multiplier effect for regional development. From a macro perspective it provides a wealth of information on the obstacles causing border effects throughout Europe. This article reports on research done over the analysis of 90 border obstacles dealt with via b-solutions in European internal borders. Methodology is based on the individual assessment of each of the legal reports elaborated for those cases. Results show that a significant part of the obstacles are enrooted on incompatible national legal frameworks and the potential for specific legal frameworks applicable to cross-border territories to accomplishing the Single Market.

Objective: to evaluate the regulation of transfusion refusal for religious reasons, as recognized in recent decisions of the Federal Supreme Court and addressed in Resolution No. 2.232/2019 of the Federal Council of Medicine. Methodology: a critical expository analysis of the deontological norm, in light of current jurisprudence on the subject and its impact on the right to health. The study was conducted through normative, jurisprudential, and bibliographic research, based on the historical development within the ethical-professional field and its comparison with recent jurisprudential positions. It culminates in an exploratory assessment of how the decision affects access to health for individuals impacted by the aforementioned norms, which have prompted administrative action by the Public Defender’s Office in ensuring the effective protection of this group’s health. Results: Resolution No. 2.232/2019 was enacted with the aim of establishing “ethical standards for therapeutic refusal by patients and conscientious objection in the physician–patient relationship,” following the emergence of jurisprudential debate on the issue. Its content, by simultaneously addressing multiple ethical and legal aspects, raised several issues that are currently under discussion. It was found to be relevant, including for revising previous positions of the Council that had been subject to legal challenge. However, the manner in which the norm was structured gave rise to an apparent conflict between the autonomy of the physician and that of the patient. In light of the decisions rendered in Extraordinary Appeals No. 979.742 and No. 1.212,272 by the Federal Supreme Court, which upheld the right to refuse blood transfusions, proposals were advanced concerning the regulation and practice of the issue, including normative and interpretative approaches, as well as the need to ensure the availability of alternative therapeutic options. Conclusion: This study highlights the need for normative and practical harmonization regarding transfusion refusal and its implications for the exercise of autonomy, including in end-of-life decisions, within the national legal framework. Received: September 30, 2025 | Revised: February 24, 2026 | Accepted: February 26, 2026

Online harassment against women has emerged as a critical, social, psychological, and legal concern in an increasingly digitized world. Women face harassment in various forms cyberstalking, doxxing, non-consensual image sharing, hate campaigns, sexualized trolling, revenge pornography, deepfake exploitation, and other manifestations of technologyfacilitated gender-based violence. Although numerous national and international legal frameworks have attempted to address these evolving harms, significant gaps persist between legislative intent and enforcement realities. This study provides a comprehensive, detailed, and critical examination of the current legal protections against online harassment targeting women and the enforcement barriers that undermine those protections. Using a qualitative methodology grounded in legal analysis, comparative review, case examination, and thematic interpretation, the research uncovers systemic failures in policing, judicial interpretation, digital forensic capability, and public awareness. Findings show that patriarchal biases, weak technological infrastructure, cross-border complexities, opaque platform policies, and societal stigma contribute to weak accountability. The paper proposes well-founded reforms including legal modernization, improved cyberpolicing, coordinated international cooperation, gender-sensitive training, and stronger digital literacy initiatives to build safer online environments for women.

The Digital Services Act (DSA) represents a landmark regulatory context aiming to secure a safer, trusted and more transparent digital environment. While the DSA establishes a harmonised regulatory framework for intermediary services across the EU, its enforcement system relies significantly on national regulatory authorities, leaving member states a degree of institutional autonomy in designing the supervisory structures. This article examines the implementation of the DSA in Cyprus and discusses the national legal framework adopted through primary and secondary legislation. It analyses the powers, legally mandated tasks, rights, and obligations of the digital services coordinator in Cyprus including its supervisory, investigatory, and enforcement competences as well as the sanctioning mechanisms. This article provides a comprehensive legal analysis of the coordinator’s operation and contributes to the academic debate on the national implementation of the DSA as a horizontal legal tool of intermediary services and digital platforms accessed by European citizens.

Social security law has traditionally been designed to regulate a specific exchange: work performed in return for remuneration. Since the primary purpose of traineeships is not remuneration, applying social security law to trainees is often difficult or ineffective. This contribution explores the challenge of ensuring adequate social security protection for trainees in the absence of (sufficient) remuneration, with a particular focus on the Belgian context. We begin by examining a recent decision of the European Committee of Social Rights concerning the right to fair remuneration for trainees in Belgium. Based on this decision, we conclude that unpaid or poorly paid traineeships are not prohibited under the European Social Charter, provided they include a genuine educational component. Given that unpaid or underpaid traineeships are not outlawed, we then assess how the lack of (sufficient) remuneration affects trainees’ access to social security. In Belgium, the social security scheme for salaried workers applies only to those who work for pay, which excludes trainees. Furthermore, the two specific branches that have been extended to include trainees - covering occupational accidents and occupational diseases - were originally intended to protect paid employment. To adapt these branches to trainees, the minimum wage, which is denied to them under labour law, paradoxically re-emerges as a reference point for calculating the economic loss resulting from an accident or illness. A comparison of the Belgian case with the systems in France and Spain shows that the more social security coverage is detached from remuneration, the more the financial burden of that coverage shifts to the collectivity. Finally, we consider whether international and European law require Belgium to extend the social security coverage of trainees to include other branches (unemployment, pensions, etc.). In this regard, we conclude that, like national legislation, international and European legal frameworks remain primarily focused on paid employment.

Abstract Artificial intelligence ( ai ) is transforming many sectors globally. Despite its widespread adoption, the use of ai raises increasing public integrity concerns. Consequently, some developed countries have established policy and legal frameworks to govern ai ’s application. While effective in some developed nations, Africa faces significant challenges, particularly within the education sector. Using a systematic review approach, this article assesses higher education’s response to ai -related academic integrity concerns. The findings indicate that most African countries are yet to respond regarding the ethical use of ai technology due to lack national policy and legal frameworks to guide ai ’s implementation in higher education. Furthermore, higher education institutions themselves lack policies governing ai use. While ai continues to be widely adopted by students and, presumably, staff, many academic personnel lack sufficient experience with it. This frequently leads to serious unethical conduct in academia. Therefore, African countries are strongly advised to enact legislation and establish comprehensive policies on ai ’s use within higher education.

The article analyzes trajectories of resistance and strategies to confront gender-based violence across different historical periods, with emphasis on the Brazilian context. Its aim is to understand how women, individually and collectively, have challenged patriarchal domination, shifting violence against women from the private sphere to the field of human rights and public policy. A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive approach is adopted, based on bibliographical and documentary research on male domination, patriarchy, feminist theory, women’s movements, international human rights instruments and national legal frameworks addressing gender-based violence. The text first discusses forms of everyday resistance and women’s agency in contexts marked by inequality and violence. It then examines the role of women’s movements and feminist advocacy in producing diagnoses, formulating policies and influencing state action. Finally, it addresses strategies of resistance in the legal and institutional arenas, including disputes over legal frameworks, court decisions and the production of public data on violence against women. The results indicate that confronting gender-based violence is built in interdependent layers, combining everyday practices, collective mobilization and institutional change. It is concluded that recognizing the historical depth of these trajectories of resistance is essential for understanding the advances and limits of current responses to gender-based violence and for sustaining long-term strategies of social transformation.

Background/Objectives: This study examines the legislation governing forest therapy in healthcare, centered on nature-based environments as workplaces for professional forest therapy specialists within international, EU, and national legal frameworks from a labor law perspective. Methods: Using systematic legal analysis, comparative document analysis, and analysis of the scientific literature, the study examines current relevant international, EU, and national (Lithuania, the Republic of Korea) regulations. Results: Based on a cross-sectoral legal norms analysis, the legal conception of forest therapy in healthcare systems and the general regulatory framework for the professional use of nature-based environments as workplaces were identified, along with their impact on the realization of the right to work, workplace requirements, and the provision of forest therapy services. Regulatory mechanisms and conditions governing the use of nature-based environments for forest therapy purposes, under schemes administered by public and private bodies, were identified and analyzed. The interaction between nature-based workplace factors and legal liability arising from professional, contractual, and service-based relationships was also defined and clarified. Conclusions: Fragmented legal regulation of nature-based environments as workplaces for forest therapy creates legal uncertainty, limits the realization of the right to work, and increases legal risks in employment, service provision, patient protection, and resource use. Strengthened interdisciplinary integration between health and forest policy is essential to ensure service quality, accessibility, and legal certainty. Therefore, future regulation should prioritize integrated and harmonized legal frameworks that recognize forest therapy within healthcare systems, ensure fair working conditions, and establish clear rules for the professional use of nature-based environments in therapeutic practices.

This article provides insights into how differences in the degree of fiscal autonomy of local governments in EU Member States shape the ways in which they design and implement fiscal instruments to support the achievement of climate objectives. By comparing three countries (Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands), it demonstrates that local governments’ capacity to leverage taxation for climate purposes is essentially shaped by their national legal and fiscal frameworks. At the same time, limited fiscal autonomy does not necessarily prevent local authorities from using fiscal instruments to support the achievement of climate objectives. This is illustrated, for instance, by the introduction of the ‘pay-as-you-throw’ (PAYT) waste fee in Turin, where such a measure can be implemented despite the relatively limited fiscal autonomy within the centralized Italian system. The article further shows that local climate plans across the EU acknowledge taxation as a policy tool for advancing sustainability goals, highlighting its potential to influence areas such as mobility, buildings and energy.

ABSTRACT Given that China’s utilization of transboundary waters within its territory has been criticized as hydro-hegemony and easily causes discomfort in downstream states, this article examines and compares China’s laws and treaties relevant to the utilization of transboundary waters to clarify the extent to which China’s practices comply with the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization under international water law. This article argues that China’s practices reflect a coexisting and converging domestic and international legal system that contributes to the equitable and reasonable use of shared waters.

Digital transformation and the COVID-19 pandemic have caused a paradigm shift in work; hybrid work arrangements that combine remote and in-office work are becoming the norm in many business organizations worldwide. Employees benefit from the flexible working arrangements that the hybrid work offers, but they often navigate in uncertainty in terms of legal protection and contractual arrangements, even in the EU (European Union). WB (Western Balkan) countries have embraced hybrid work with a constant effort to align their policy and legal framework to the EU standards, as pressing requisites of EU integration aspirations. This study aims to explore the readiness of WB countries’ national legal and policy frameworks to regulate hybrid work through mapping and analyzing the dimensions of hybrid work in national legal and policy frameworks through a comparative legal and policy analysis. Results reveal that in the majority of the legal frameworks of WB countries, there is no specific definition of hybrid work, and legal arrangements on homework or telework can be found in the legal frameworks of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. Employees’ working conditions, work-life balance, gender aspect, and well-being are not fully addressed. Policy instruments remain underdeveloped, with Serbia being the only country with significant labor reform progress. National legal frameworks need further harmonization, whereas national policies need to tailor proper policy instruments that address hybrid work. Received: 17 January 2026 / Revised: 24 February 2026 / Accepted: 7 March 2026 / Published: 25 March 2026

This article analyzes the legal policy evolution of corruption eradication in Indonesia subsequent to the reform of the Corruption Eradication Commission Law and the implementation of Law Number 1 of 2023 about the Criminal Code. Since the reform era, corruption has been regarded as a significant crime managed by a specialized and autonomous institution. Recent legal amendments have altered its institutional standing by incorporating it within the executive branch, creating a supervisory body, and reclassifying people as state civil servants. The new criminal law simultaneously establishes sentencing goals, individualizes punishment, and reclassifies punishments. This research utilizes normative legal analysis using statutory and conceptual methodologies. The results indicate a transition from an exceptional enforcement paradigm to a more cohesive approach within the national legal framework. Although these improvements improve legal systematization and procedural accountability, they also provoke concerns about institutional independence. The efficacy of corruption elimination depends on the state's capacity to harmonize the rule of law, institutional accountability, and enforcement efficacy within a transparent governance framework.

of religious minorities and contrasts these legal provisions with the legal provisions of minority groups in the modern Muslim-majority states. Muslim jurists in historical times had created an extensive legal code that classified non-Muslims into legal categories including ahl al-dhimma (protected people), and granted them certain rights and duties as members of an Islamic polity. Such classical models were contextually anchored in the pre-modern political structures and social norms which are not similar to the modern system of the nation-state. As the concept of colonialism, nationalism and constitutionalism entered the Muslim world, the legislative attitudes towards religious minorities were changing, and the law in such countries as Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia and Morocco started to become characterized by hybridized norms, i.e.- being based on the principles of Islamic law and international human rights law, as well as being being shaped by the needs of local politics. This study by examining classical texts through the prism of doctrinal analysis of the major Sunni and Shia schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali and Ja'fari) and comparing the contemporary legal systems with the historical jurisprudence will outline the areas of similarity and difference between the traditional jurisprudence and modern legal frameworks. The paper finds that despite the fact that foundational Islamic legal principles are still present in the statutory protection, there are specific voids between customary norms and the modern international equality and non-discrimination standards. The study has found that there are a lot of differences among states regarding legal recognition and representation of religious minorities, as well as, their socio-legal status. The policy proposals include reform of the law, inclusive constitutionalism, enhanced anti-discrimination statutes, and the alignment of traditional formations with contemporary human rights demands.